I love this picture of my parents from 1966 in London and they just migrated from Ireland. You may notice the badge on my dad’s lapel, this was called “The Pioneer” badge and as an Irish catholic it was a simple and promotion of sobriety and for young people to live their full potential. I often wonder what it must have been like to migrate from a small town in Country Kerry Ireland and arrive in the 60s London ! 1966 was obviously the year England won the football world cup but a quick google of the UK charts in 1966, “My generation “ by The Who, “Let’s hang on!”, The Four seasons, “Till the end of the day”, The Kinks, “19th Nervous Breakdown”, The Rolling Stones, “Sha-La-La-La—Lee”, Small faces, “Day Tripper”/We can work it out”, The Beatles. “I Can’t let go” The Hollies and “Rainy Day Woman #12 &35”, Bob Dylan. “Strangers in the night”, Frank Sinatra to name a few. What a time to be alive and I wish my dad was still around to ask him about what happened to his pioneer badge ! I have just listened to all of the above and more on Spotify and it made me so happy to have a visual connection of his arrival in London in a great generation for youth culture and music. Please read my article “The power of music for mental wellbeing” for more inspiration !

My parents migrated to London from Castleisland in Ireland in 1964 and my dad worked his entire career on building sites throughout the city in various roles. He always worked hard, and he was my motivation as he always stuck to his core values of hard work, kindness, supporting our family and the community. I was brought up on a council Estate (social housing) in Wapping, East London but my dad motivated me to work hard, study at school and focus on education and taking opportunities. My dad was my mentor and inspiration and for me personified a true Gentleman. My passion for travel and nature was inspired by my annual summer holidays in Ballybunion and Casteisalnd in Kerry on the west coast of Ireland.

my inspiration

My vision is this community project will direct people to the magazine, website and blogs and the exciting photography, artwork, stories and articles will inspire people to experience the benefits of Travel, Art and nature and the impact on our health, well being and personal goals.

I am really passionate about this subject and I aim to be honest and transparent about my own experiences and my first blog “Why did I end up in an ambulance” is an emotional and honest article describing my unexpected experience of mental health issues linked to the loss of my father and my long journey of discovery to identify and implement a solution via health, fitness, friendships and mental strength improvement.

I think the pandemic created by Covid 19 has impacted everyone in terms of anxiety and mental health issues and I am hoping that my honest blog will provide some tools and inspiration.

I have started the project with some tips from my own personal experience but I believe we can inspired by each other and if you would like to contribute an article to the bi-annual printed magazine or for the website please visit the contributors page.

I am especially interested in your stories of your own health and wellbeing transformation, share your own passion/hobbies and your experiences of nature ( walks, photography and art)

I love meeting new people and every person in my view has an interesting story and in my view we can learn and be inspired my just listening and applying some of the teachings to our own life.

Thanks for reading and I am really excited to see how this project can grow with your help and contribution and how we can motivate and inspire each other to lead a long and healthy life.

Larry xx